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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's Friday, when we hear from StoryCorps. It's April 3, and we're looking back on an April Fools' prank from 30 years ago involving two iconic American bells - the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and Taco Bell. National Park rangers Rick Starr and Larry McClenney were working at the Liberty Bell Center on April 1, 1996.
RICK STARR: It was a rather dull morning. We had our usual briefing at 8:45. But walking to the entrance of the Liberty Bell Center, there was two or three reporters with notebooks out, and then a camera crew starts walking up. I'm like, oh, what's going on here?
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Wait until you hear what's happened to one of the most cherished symbols of American freedom.
LARRY MCCLENNEY: Two of our coworkers had copies of the newspaper, and they said, did you see this about the Liberty Bell being sold to Taco Bell?
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Taco Bell took out a full-page ad in two national papers to announce it had bought the Liberty Bell.
MCCLENNEY: And they said the government decided to sell this bell to deal with the national debt.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: The company said the bell would be moved to its corporate headquarters in California.
STARR: As the day progressed, things got so crazy, it certainly had the Park Service reeling.
MCCLENNEY: And I remember our coworker, she had a phone on either side of her head, you know, trying to field the calls complaining about, how could you? How could you sell this national icon?
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: The Taco Liberty Bell?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: What is our country all about, anyway?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Well, what's next, the Constitution?
STARR: Some visitors were very, very unhappy. And I remember this one woman being a little upset until I assured her. I said, look, have you checked your calendar today?
MCCLENNEY: (Laughter) Right.
STARR: But I was surprised at the amount of people who were truly concerned...
MCCLENNEY: Yeah.
STARR: ...About the bell. You know, you kind of take it for granted. Here's an old, cracked bell that hasn't been rung in well over a century, and yet it still calls people together.
MCCLENNEY: In my view, that prank, it achieved one of our goals at the National Park Service - to get people to stop and think, you know? So keep those pranks coming.
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MCCLENNEY: Keep them coming.
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INSKEEP: Yo quiero Liberty Bell. Larry McClenney and Rick Starr, Independence National Historical Park rangers in Philadelphia. Taco Bell donated $50,000 to the National Park Service after this prank, by the way. The interview is archived with the Library of Congress.
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